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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23176906">In Circles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snapplelinz/pseuds/Snapplelinz'>Snapplelinz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Victorious (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Friendship, Romance, Science Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:14:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23176906</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snapplelinz/pseuds/Snapplelinz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You can't see where a circle starts and where it ends. But maybe that's what makes them beautiful." A Cabbie story in which Robbie realizes that his complicated dynamic with Cat might just be the start of their burgeoning romance.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Robbie Shapiro/Cat Valentine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Circles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>An edit of Ariana Grande's 'R.E.M.' by Moonlight Records on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DNOvwTp0us) inspired me to write a shortish oneshot for Cabbie with a Sci-Fi angle. This is my first time properly writing a sci-fi romance, so I hope it comes off well. I do not own the rights to Dan Schneider's 'Victorious', the characters or the plot lines.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Robbie sipped listlessly on a tall glass of blue lemonade. He'd selected a long straw to go with his drink. It bent in all the right places, sending the saccharine, ice-cold beverage shooting past his lips and swirling in foamy circles around his teeth.</p><p>The Hollywood Arts student retrieved a quarter from inside his blazer. He flicked the round metal with his index finger and thumb, watching with morbid interest as it spun in monotonous circles across the wooden bar counter top.</p><p>Robbie sipped listlessly on a tall glass of blue lemonade. He'd selected a long straw to go with his drink. It bent in all the right places, sending the saccharine, ice-cold beverage shooting past his lips and swirling in foamy circles around his teeth.</p><p>The Hollywood Arts student retrieved a quarter from inside his blazer. He flicked the round metal with his index finger and thumb, watching with morbid interest as it spun in monotonous circles across the wooden bar counter top.</p><p><em>Nozu</em> was crowded as per usual. People sat in cramped proximity to each other at tiny, circular tables, their voices clamouring in a bid to outdo each other for clarity and volume. Harassed-looking staff carried trays laden with food and drinks that swayed precariously above the heads of the patrons and their wild, simpering laughter.</p><p>The teenager had been lucky enough to find a vacant spot by the bar. He at least had plenty of elbow room to move around on his circular bar stool and he could breathe freely without inciting judgemental stares.</p><p>Robbie was waiting for the rest of his friends to finally show up.</p><p>He'd already arrived an hour ago; no one had bothered to send him a text, letting him know when they'd be coming.</p><p>Robbie wasn't even upset about it.</p><p>He was used to being an afterthought to his friends.</p><p>Rex noticed him of course. But he could barely say a kind word to Robbie that wasn't heavily infused with disdain.</p><p>And he was a puppet.</p><p>The end of the semester was only a few weeks away. It would be one of the last times Robbie would spend together with his friends before Finals and graduation.</p><p>And after that, everyone would go their separate ways.</p><p>Beck and Jade were talking about getting an apartment together in New York so they could both pursue their acting careers in the Big Apple. Andre had been accepted into a 6-month writing internship with a prominent musician in Sweden who'd won several Platinum music awards. Tori had gotten early acceptance into UCLA where she would continue honing her acting and singing skills, so at least she would still live in Los Angeles.</p><p>As for Cat, well…no one really knew what went on in that girl's head. She had ideas and ambitions that no one around her really understood, including Robbie.</p><p>Sometimes, he wondered if he was the only one who wasn't ready to leave Hollywood Arts behind. Besides his attempts at stand-up comedy with a reluctant Rex by his side, Robbie had no idea what he wanted to do with his life after high school.</p><p>In fact, Robbie felt like he wasn't moving forward at all. His life appeared to be a two-dimensional mathematical schema: his relationship with other people were nothing but bland ovals bisecting into each other during brief interludes.</p><p>And he was just the unruly cluster of dichotomous ideas in the middle of a Venn diagram.</p><p>Robbie sighed loudly, particularly when a taller, obnoxious man bumped shoulders with him in his bid to get the bartender's attention.</p><p>He hadn't bothered to apologise.</p><p>Robbie hadn't expected him to though.</p><p>Nothing ever seemed to match or fit for him. Even total strangers regarded him as a wisp of smoke that they had to brush out of their way.</p><p>"Robbie!" A voice called out.</p><p>He recognised that familiar, husky tenor. He turned away from the bar and caught a flash of red hair on the head of his best friend, Cat Valentine. Even now, his treacherous heart still did jumping jacks in his chest the closer she got to him.</p><p>Robbie frowned quizzically at several things to do with Cat's appearance.</p><p>Unlike most days when she flaunted her legs with a mini skirt, Cat was wearing dark blue skinny jeans similar to his. Even more surprising than this was the fact that she was sporting a turtle-neck matching her vivid red hair. Instead of ridiculously tall high heels, her feet were encased in black ankle-height combat boots like Jade's.</p><p>The only thing remotely familiar about Cat's overall look was her long hair which she had fashioned into its usual ponytail.</p><p>Dangly, hoop earrings swung like pendulums from her lobes the closer she walked to Robbie.</p><p>Cat looked unnaturally mature, weighed down by clothes that made her look 10 years older. It was in her face too; her cheeks were drawn and her soft, brown eyes weren't wide nor vacant. Her gaze was focused and hardened – deep pools of enigmatic restraint.</p><p>"Hey, Cat," Robbie greeted, forcing his voice to sound loud and cheery. "You look…different," he declared a moment later.</p><p>He glanced furtively over his own appearance. He had put in a bit more effort tonight. He still wore his favourite pair of skinny jeans and black and white Asics on his feet. He had replaced his usual plaid shirts with a deep maroon dress shirt similar in colour to Cat's own turtleneck, but with an intricate floral print etched into the left shoulder. He completed his overall look with a soft, black blazer which made his brown eyes darker than usual. His regular barber had squeezed him in for an appointment after school and had snipped away the bulk of his frizzy, black curls so they stood atop his head, accentuating the impressive fade underneath.</p><p>Robbie had wanted to look his best, in case it was the last time the gang hung out before graduation. He supposed it was fortuitous that Cat would be the first of his friends to see his attempts at immaculacy.</p><p>"Not in a bad way, you look great just like always. I just didn't know you even owned a turtleneck," he added somewhat dubiously.</p><p>"Thanks," Cat answered right away. "You look nice too. Red's your colour," she added, shooting him a small smile.</p><p>Robbie grinned back at the unexpected compliment Cat had given him. But after a while, he noticed that her attention wasn't on him anymore, her eyes flitting across the restaurant in a distracted manner.</p><p>"No one else is here yet," Cat noted after a while.</p><p>"They're late again. Andre went to pick Tori up at her place. I don't know where Beck and Jade are; they're probably making out in his RV," Robbie answered finally.</p><p>He was surprised by the biting resentment evident in his tone while talking about two of his closest friends. He never realised that thinking about people in a romantic relationship triggered him so badly.</p><p>Then again, he had the mysterious girl standing beside him at the bar to thank for that.</p><p>Had it only been a few weeks since he'd kissed her at the Cow Wow?</p><p>He'd never known that a girl could flee so fast afterwards, both on foot and a pink bicycle…</p><p>"I don't know how much time I have left…" Cat trailed off.</p><p>Robbie quirked an eyebrow at Cat's tone. She sounded despondent and anxious to get away. "What do you mean?"</p><p>Cat sidled up next to Robbie at the bar. Her pale fingers were interlocked, forming a tight circle with her hands. Her soft, brown eyes kept shifting back and forth towards the main entrance.</p><p>She looked as if she was seconds away from bolting through it.</p><p>In Robbie's eyes, that seemed to be the only thing remotely familiar about Cat's overall demeanour tonight.</p><p>"Rex isn't here…" Cat stated, finally noticing the quiet aura that surrounded her curly-haired friend.</p><p>"I left him at home. Well…he didn't want to come with me. He invited some Northridge girls over to my house to watch Galaxy Wars. He even said my mom could join them, which is weird. She doesn't even watch Galaxy Wars with me when Rex passes out after drinking too many appletinis – uh, I mean, apple juice! Rex drinks lots of apple juice," Robbie rambled.</p><p>"You're all alone tonight."</p><p>This got Robbie's attention. The coin he'd been spinning on the bar counter fell flat and he took to studying Cat's features.</p><p>The tone of Cat's voice surprised him.</p><p>It was thoughtful and sad.</p><p>"Well, I'm not alone. You're here," Robbie pointed out, trying his best to smile.</p><p>He didn't know why he felt so flat tonight.</p><p>"Yes, I'm here with you, Robbie. But I don't know for how long," Cat answered hurriedly. "Time's already running out. And it took me forever to get here-"</p><p>"What are you talking about, Cat?"</p><p>"I don't know why this happened. But things haven't been going right for me lately and somehow, I think you're the reason behind it. So I got really sad and ate some Bibble, even though Oliver told me not to. Then this giant hole opened up in my bedroom and I saw these rainbow circles glittering and spinning inside it. I had to take a closer look because circles usually don't have glitter on them." Cat explained in a flash.</p><p>"Wait…a hole with rainbow circles? Like a worm-hole?" Robbie asked in awe.</p><p>"Maybe, but I didn't see any worms in it. I definitely saw the circles though, Robbie. There are circles everywhere," Cat prattled on, sounding a little uncertain as she said it. "Circles in Math, circles in time. There are even circles in ice-cream except when they use square-shaped scoopers to make ice cream cakes…"</p><p>"O-k…"</p><p>"You can find circles in everything. Something always starts and then repeats in a loop, like when I jump rope on the sidewalk. But sometimes I forget to bring a rope and just tie red liquorice together as a back-up. Somehow, I made a circle out of nothing in my bedroom like my liquorice jump rope and I went back in time, to this night with you."</p><p>"Cat, you're not making any sense…"</p><p>The red-head's face contorted with frustration, which made the curly-haired boy furrow his thick eyebrows in consternation.</p><p>"Ok, it's like this," Cat finally ventured, using her pale hands as vehicles for her explanation. "What if it wasn't me, but Mr. Purple instead? He's cute, he's hip, and he approaches you in <em>Nozu</em> just like I did. It's still Mr. Purple, but still not Mr. Purple at the same time. He's still purple and the only stuffed animal you want to snuggle with in private and public. But he's taller and there's more wisdom in his button eyes. He's lived through so much more than Previous Mr. Purple; he now knows that unicorns aren't real and Biddle has something worse than LSD in it to make it so addictive –"</p><p>"And now you sound exactly like the Cat I've always known," Robbie quipped dryly.</p><p>Cat shook her head vigorously in response to this. Robbie was alarmed that her eyes were so wide and rife with exasperation.</p><p>"The point is…it's me, Robbie. But I'm not a Cat Valentine you've ever known before. I'm still me, just…a year ahead of the Cat you actually know."</p><p>Robbie flicked his thumb, sending his coin shooting into the air above him. When Cat finished speaking, the coin was suspended for a fraction of a second before it slammed hard onto the bar counter. The sound of metal and wood grating together before becoming deathly still rang through Robbie's ears when he finally processed what she had said to him.</p><p>He gathered himself and stared hard at his red-haired friend. She wasn't making any sense, and it was beginning to worry him now. Even when she'd gone off on zany tangents before, Robbie had always been able to get to the crux of Cat's erratic whims and every scattered thought leaving her brain like loose shrapnel from a gun.</p><p>The longer Robbie gazed at her, the less Cat looked like herself. It was like the outline of her entire body was etched in a fuzzy, filmy layer. The contours of her face and skin were grainy and blurry at the edges like a hologram.</p><p>If he touched her right now, would she feel like anything? Or would she be made up of clouds and impossible dreams?</p><p>Or maybe the ice tea he'd drunk earlier was making his stomach churn…</p><p>"Wait…are you saying that you're from the future?" Robbie asked with barely repressed disbelief.</p><p>Cat nodded nervously.</p><p>"Maybe I'm just a year ahead in a different timeline. But I don't think so, because I remember everything that happens on this night. And I also remember everything that happened before tonight, like Sinjin's crazy game show where they blew up my face. And it was really mean for them to do that to me – it turned my face black all over! How do you think real burn victims feel when their faces get blown up like that? They can't even take the black marks off their faces later!" Cat lamented facetiously about all of the wrong things somehow.</p><p>Robbie goggled comically for a moment, trying to process all of this. "How is any of this possible? If you travelled in time, how did you get here?" he finally asked.</p><p>"The hole with the rainbow circles took me to Hollywood Arts, but that's still really far away from <em>Nozu</em>. So I used our old cupcake float to get here," Cat dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "And it's the worst! It's still really slow and it broke down in Northridge! I was all alone and these scary guys in bandanas kept asking me if I knew how to crochet. I wish Sikowitz had been with me – he could've taken off his pants to distract them like last time." She explained, twirling a strand of her red hair around her finger as she spoke.</p><p>Robbie was starting to feel a migraine coming on.</p><p>"Look, Cat, if you're just trying to chizz me, it's not funny anymore," he began wearily.</p><p>Cat placed her hand over Robbie's. Her eyes remained on him so long, it was as if she was staring deep into his soul.</p><p>"I'm not chizzing you, Robbie," Cat asserted. "I swear on Nona's Matzah balls that I'm telling you the truth about everything."</p><p>"Your Nona makes Matzah balls?" Robbie asked in a quizzical tone.</p><p>"Of course," Cat responded, nonplussed. "What else would you put inside chicken soup?"</p><p>Robbie was about to question Cat's bizarre logic concerning traditional Passover meals. Instead, he shook his head and got back to the matter at hand.</p><p>"Cat…why are you here right now?"</p><p>"The Cat you know is going to come here a little while," Cat continued, ignoring Robbie's question for the moment. "And just like always, she's going to deny that she 'like' likes you. She's going to pretend that the way you kissed her at the Cow Wow didn't make her feel more than she's ever felt with any guy she liked before. But she's lying, Robbie. And now you know."</p><p>"Cat…well, whoever you are…what am I supposed to do with any of this?" Robbie asked in exasperation.</p><p>It was just like the red-headed girl to get his hopes up and confuse him all in one fell swoop.</p><p>"I don't know exactly why I came back to this night. Maybe it's because this is the night that changes everything between me and you. I wish I could explain things, but you know how sardiney my brain gets. Sometimes, there's just no room for anything important, like the people I care about or how many cups of sugar it takes to get to the moon. I know a lot of people think I'm dumb, and maybe they're right. Because the dumbest thing I ever did was pretend I didn't love you, Robbie Shapiro. That I don't love you. Because I do. It doesn't matter how or when or why; every version of me from the beginning till now loves you."</p><p>Robbie had finally had enough. He got up from the bar stool and turned to face Cat properly. His shoulders were hunched so low, they were almost the same height for a change.</p><p>"Cat, I don't know where any of this is coming from. But we can't keep going around in circles like this-"</p><p>Her hands gripped his forearms, holding him in place. Robbie was frozen, getting lost in the hypnotising spheres of Cat's soft brown eyes. And then she stood on her tiptoes, closing her eyes and melding their lips together.</p><p>And just like that…Time stalled for Robbie Shapiro.</p><p>Even the way she kissed him proved this was a whole new Cat.</p><p>This was nothing like three years ago when she tried to prove that stage-kissing was an all act. On that warm, summery day, she'd been nonchalant when leaning closer and pressing her mouth to his. And when she'd finally pulled away, she'd acted as if it had been a simple business transaction.</p><p>One chaste kiss in exchange for years of frustrating bewilderment and obsession.</p><p>It was nothing at all like how he'd kissed her weeks ago at the Cow Wow. That night, he'd been so assured of their mutual feelings. It had shown in the soft, chaste kiss he'd adorned her lips with. And then his heart had shattered into a thousand pieces when she'd squeaked in fright a moment later and fled into the night.</p><p>And now they were at it again, kissing like they weren't going to break into a million little atoms. But just like always, Robbie didn't care. He was spinning in Cat's orbit, waiting desperately for that bright ray of sunlight to rush over his skin while nipping sensually at her bottom lip.</p><p>This kiss was raw and purposeful. The intensity of it made Robbie's brain feel like it was melting. All he could think and feel was Cat all around him: latching onto his shoulders with her fingers and looping around his neck in a tender embrace.</p><p>Robbie mirrored Cat's actions, encircling her petite waist with his hands, drawing their bodies searingly closer while they kissed. There were no sharp edges to Cat's body, only smooth, enigmatic spheres. Robbie traced an infinite path of curiosity over the arc of her jaw. His fingers soon found their way to the round arches of her cheeks, discovering the delightful curves of her dimples as she smiled against his lips.</p><p>Their mouths were stoking a silent flame deep within themselves, every heated breath from their lungs sparking and gathering in a ring of fire. Robbie could see those same rainbow circles that Cat had described before. Only now, they were forming behind his closed eyelids, letting him sink into a whole new realm of infinite possibilities.</p><p>When Cat finally released his lips with a soft, halting breath moments later, Robbie sank back against the bar counter. His knees felt like they were seconds away from giving out completely.</p><p>Cat had just kissed him like she wanted him.</p><p>But he'd read this chapter from the same book several times before. Despite the bubble of elation which now filled his chest, Robbie Shapiro knew full well that it would pop and cool into a heavy ball of lead.</p><p>In a moment, Cat was going to realise that initiating any romantic moment with him was a mistake.</p><p>In a moment, she was going to pretend it never happened and run away.</p><p>Why did they always have to play this cyclical love game?</p><p>Cat ran her fingers over her swollen lips. Robbie's Adam's apple bobbed painstakingly when she met his gaze full-on and giggled.</p><p>"That definitely wasn't a stage kiss," she half-whispered, her pupils dilated and aglow.</p><p>"Cat…"</p><p>She sighed loudly, her eyes crinkling with intractable sadness. Robbie watched as her hands reached behind her neck, disappearing behind her thick, red ponytail. Before he could do or say anything, she moved forward and held him close, her head nuzzled in the crook of his neck.</p><p>Even with this version of her, Robbie was still a head taller than Cat. She felt very different from his Cat. But for the first time ever, it was a good thing.</p><p>"I've always liked squares better," Cat whispered against his chest.</p><p>"Huh?" Robbie asked in a quizzical voice.</p><p>"Squares have four edges that you can see clearly. They're easy to draw; they're easy to cut out of paper, like Jade does with her favourite pair of scissors. I can make a perfect square every time I hop around in my Jupiter boots. Even when I forget to count to 'three', I never forget the 'four' with squares. Circles scare me, Robbie. No one can ever draw a perfect circle, not unless they're crazy. You can't see where a circle starts and where it ends. But maybe that's what makes them beautiful, Robbie. Maybe you can't see the lines at all because they're hiding…or holding each other like hands. I think…you're my circle, Robbie. Maybe…I've just been bouncing around you with my Jupiter boots all along. No matter what happens, I keep coming back to you somehow."</p><p>Robbie felt something cold and smooth touch his left hand. He looked down and saw that Cat had placed something in his palm while hugging him. It was a gold, metal chain with a round object looped through it.</p><p>At first, he thought it was a round, precious stone. But it had no colour at all; it was transparent and very common looking, just like –</p><p>"Glass," Robbie trailed off in awe. "Wait…this is a piece of my broken glass!"</p><p>"I know," Cat answered, smiling radiantly. "It fell out of the bottom of a glass bottle you were holding in your hand. Rex called a Northridge girl a 'wazz waffle' and she slapped you through the face instead of him, which made you drop the bottle and break it. The glass at the bottom was a perfect circle and you had it made into a necklace. You said it was special because circles can never be broken." She recited in a voice filled with nostalgia.</p><p>Robbie's stomach twisted at Cat's revelation.</p><p>This necklace was supposed to be hidden away in the bottom of his sock drawer at home right now. No one was supposed to have seen it, much less the girl standing in front of him.</p><p>None of this seemed possible at all.</p><p>"I've never told anyone about that piece of glass, nor the story about the broken circle. How do you even know about it?" he demanded in a low murmur.</p><p>Cat reached forward and ran her fingers lightly over his left hand, which still held the necklace.</p><p>"You haven't told me the story yet, Robbie. But you're going to…really soon. And when I hear it, it'll make me change my mind about circles forever. Hold onto this necklace for now. I hope you'll give it back to me when I'm ready to stop pretending that both you and circles aren't special."</p><p>Robbie gave a start when Cat's body shook unnaturally from head to toe. Her pale skin was alight with a multitude of colours, almost as if an entire rainbow was trying to erupt from her insides.</p><p>"Cat-"</p><p>"I'm sorry, but I have to go now." Cat said. She took a deep breath and some of her natural skin tone returned to her cheeks. But her hands were still trembling, like they were being goaded by an unseen force deep within her.</p><p>"Mr. Purple doesn't like it when I leave him alone with Sam for too long. She always eats my special meatballs and doesn't leave any for either me or Mr. Purple. And that's really unfair because everyone should enjoy special meatballs, not just really hungry, ganky people-"</p><p>"Wait, who's Sam?" Robbie questioned in bewilderment.</p><p>"Sam's my friend and business partner, even though she's blonde and kinda mean all the time. Oh that's right, you haven't met her yet. But you're going to play a song for her on your guitar in the near future and that will make me really angry and jealous. But don't worry, I'll forgive you in the end because you're my special circle made of shiny glass. Don't forget me, Robbie."</p><p>Robbie blinked in confusion when Cat leant in and pressed her lips quickly to his cool cheek. And then she moved with an ethereal quality towards the entrance to the kitchen.</p><p>She smirked furtively at Robbie one last time and then she was gone.</p><p>It took the lanky teenage boy all of three seconds before he decided to follow her.</p><p>This time, he ignored the host of exasperated restaurant staff and patrons who he shoved out of the way. He sent a tray filled with tiny bowls of wasabi sailing into the air as he pushed savagely at the sliding doors leading into the kitchen.</p><p>Regardless of what Cat had said about time travel and rainbow-coloured worm-holes, Robbie wasn't going to let her go this time.</p><p>Hot steam flew into his face, fogging up his spectacles in an instant. Angry yells filled Robbie's ears as he dodged sizzling pans and tall flames at every turn. His eyes were wholly trained on the girl with the red hair sprinting ahead of him.</p><p>As always, Cat was much too fast for Robbie.</p><p>She ducked haphazardly under a tall chef holding a scalding hot pan in his hand and inched her tiny body through a heavy, swinging door at the far end of the large room. Robbie ran through a puddle of water on the ground and lost his footing; he grasped the edge of a nearby metal counter just in time before he could crash head-first into a thickset freezer door. He regained his footing and pushed through the door Cat had just run through.</p><p>It seemed like she had run into the alleyway.</p><p>His sneakers clattered against the gravel, still slick and damp from the afternoon rain. A delirious, kaleidoscope of circles formed and spun behind his pulsing corneas, causing his eyes to flit desperately in every direction as he sprinted along.</p><p>He looked behind every smelly dumpster and checked every crevice of that cramped alley, upsetting a few hissing felines in the process.</p><p>But Cat was nowhere to be found.</p><p>He sprinted to the end of the alley and turned right, leading him back onto the main street where <em>Nozu</em> was located. Fearing that his legs would give out at any second, Robbie began jogging torturously towards the restaurant.</p><p>Robbie stopped to catch his breath, his lungs feeling like thick trunks of fire in his chest. The air was cold, stinging his cheeks mercilessly. He removed his spectacles and wiped rapidly at the smudge marks that had formed on the glass with the edge of his dress shirt. A maître'd stood outside the main entrance to the Japanese restaurant, talking in polite murmurs with several people who were waiting for a table.</p><p>For once, the staff at <em>Nozu</em> didn't give him a hard time about needing a reservation for a table as he slid his glasses back on and swept through the main doors once more.</p><p>His half-consumed drink was exactly where he'd left it at the bar. He sank onto his stool, his body and mind spent. He sighed and stirred the icy dregs in the glass listlessly.</p><p>"Robbie!" A voice called out.</p><p>The lethargy instantly left his bones. He turned sharply at that familiar, husky inflection.</p><p>And then Robbie saw her.</p><p>Cat made her ways towards him, her posture as stunted and weighty as when she'd first entered <em>Nozu</em> just minutes ago.</p><p>"Cat!"</p><p>Robbie rose haphazardly to his feet. Cat squeaked in alarm when he suddenly grabbed her wrist.</p><p>"You came back!" His eyes crinkled with relief before he wrapped her in a bear hug. "How could you kiss me and then just leave like that?!"</p><p>"Huh?" Cat huffed, her voice muffled against Robbie's chest.</p><p>"Then again, everything you said before was completely wazzed up. Still, you can't just-"</p><p>"Wait…do you mean the Cow Wow? Robbie, that was weeks ago. Are you still mad about that?"</p><p>"Where did you even go just now? I looked everywhere for you!" Robbie stroked Cat's head distractedly, chuckling half to himself. "I thought a giant cupcake would be easy to spot."</p><p>Cat's forehead furrowed and she disentangled herself from Robbie. "What cupcake?"</p><p>Robbie's head buzzed with so many questions that he had no hopes of answering. "Cat...where's the giant cupcake?"</p><p>Cat chortled, albeit hesitantly. It was quite unlike Robbie to start spewing out things that only made sense in his own mind.</p><p>That was exclusively her job.</p><p>"Cat, you booked it from school to <em>Nozu</em> in the giant cupcake float! Where did you park it?!" Robbie snapped.</p><p>"Robbie, what are you talking about? I rode my bike here. I guess it is pink like a cupcake though, and it kinda tastes like one too after it rains. My brother once bet me 20 bucks to lick it, so I did. And it tasted like rusty caramel! But anyway, some mean girls from Northridge stabbed the back wheel with a switchblade and I had to fix the puncture with Grizzly Glue. But don't tell Tori I used Grizzly Glue, she won't want me to come anywhere near her face ever again! And I really like Tori's face – it smells like coconuts and good luck!"</p><p>Her eyes were wide again. But Robbie finally noticed the subtle difference in that look.</p><p>His stomach plummeted like a stone into the marble beneath his feet.</p><p>"It's not you…" Robbie realised.</p><p>He slumped against the bar, clutching the edge so he didn't fall onto the floor.</p><p>She wore the exact same clothes and had styled her red hair the exact same way.</p><p>But it wasn't the same Cat from 5 minutes ago.</p><p>This was his Cat.</p><p>The one who didn't love him.</p><p>"What's not me? Oh no, did Jade pretend to be me again?!" Cat fumed.</p><p>"This doesn't make sense..." Robbie was only half-listening to Cat now.</p><p>"Because it wasn't funny when she acted like me on the phone just so she could find out where Tori and Beck were having their 'not a date' date!" Cat continued ranting. "My laugh is not that high! It's low and classy like Mona Patterson! You know, before she became an old, cranky-pants!"</p><p>Robbie scutinised every inch of Cat's face. There was no ethereal, holographic glow to it. Every line, from her forehead to her arched cheekbones, was sharp and clear.</p><p>For the first time ever, there wasn't a shred of mystery to Cat Valentine.</p><p>She was exactly what she appeared to be: a girl traversing obliviously through the present.</p><p>Robbie now understood what had happened before.</p><p>Cat had arrived at <em>Nozu</em> and called his name.</p><p>Just like the other Cat had done 5 minutes ago.</p><p>The other Cat had left through the kitchen, which led out in the alleyway. And in chasing her, Robbie had run all the way around, entered Nozu again, and wound up back on his barstool.</p><p>
  <em>In a circle.</em>
</p><p>"Robbie, you're looking at me weird," Cat said in a tentative voice. "Do I have something on my face? Is it a bug? Does it have pink wings that you can't stop looking at because it's so pretty?" she bit her bottom lip nervously.</p><p>Robbie shook his head, his thick eyebrows furrowing deeply back into his skin in the process. There was still so much that he didn't understand. But the longer he gazed at this version of Cat, the more he realised that there wasn't any point in thinking too hard about the future, nor the past.</p><p>All they had was right now. And he wasn't about to waste it for all the head-splitting, time travelling in the world.</p><p>"Cat…there's probably a good chance that you'll never admit it any time soon. But I know the truth now, and it's oddly freeing."</p><p>"What truth?"</p><p>"That you love-"</p><p>Robbie stopped himself and gazed at Cat's expectant face.</p><p>"That…you love…circles," he finished off lamely.</p><p>His lip wobbled with silent laughter when Cat's face morphed into one of anger.</p><p>"What's that supposed to mean?! For your information, I hate circles! They don't even have any edges! That's why Nascar races are just plain chizz - the drivers always go around in circles! There's no beginning and no ending! Circles are dumb! Only crazy people can actually draw perfect ones! And I'm not crazy – my mom had me tested six times!" Cat fumed, her cheeks turning the same colour as her hair.</p><p>Robbie stepped closer and put a silencing finger on Cat's lip, stilling her silly rant.</p><p>"Cat, it's ok. I know that circles are scary, but they're also really beautiful too. You and I are kind of like circles too. And no matter how much you try, none of us can ever be broken." He declared with simplicity.</p><p>He moved to stand behind Cat now, his breath ghosting over that patch of skin where her turtleneck ended. Without thinking twice about it, he reached forward and placed his glass necklace around Cat's throat, closing the golden clasp on the chain gently.</p><p>"Maybe circles do have edges. Maybe you just can't see them because they're holding each other." Robbie offered, a small smile playing on his face.</p><p>Cat fingered the cool, smooth surface of the clear glass on the necklace. The more she thought about Robbie's words, the wider her smile grew.</p><p>"Oh my gosh, that's true, Robbie!" she exclaimed, turning to face him with sudden elation. "Circles could totally be hugging each other! I bet they're super into PDA, like triangles. Or maybe my mom was just talking about triangles on <em>Telediablo</em>, like the one between Jorge, Esperanza and Paco. Maybe they're only triangles when they love each other, but circles when they hold hands-"</p><p>Cat emitted a tiny gasp when Robbie stooped and kissed her softly on the cheek.</p><p>"See? That's what makes circles so special," he murmured.</p><p>He smiled wryly and gave Cat's nose a tiny 'boop' with his index finger.</p><p>"Kay kay!" Cat exclaimed somewhat in confusion. "I wonder if bad circles are special too. My dad says there are nine circles of hell he enters every time I start talking," she offered a moment later with a shimmering smile on her face.</p><p>Even though it was an insult, Robbie laughed heartily all the same, happy to be sharing this moment like any other with his Cat.</p><p>A sprightly bartender approached the two teenagers from behind the counter and gestured towards Robbie's forgotten drink.</p><p>"Can I get you a refill?"</p><p>Robbie's grimace was answer enough.</p><p>"How about you? What do you want?" The bartender looked expectantly at Cat.</p><p>Cat caught Robbie's eye. And for the first time ever, the butterflies in her stomach awoke. They vibrated, almost as if they were hopping round and round in candy-soaked Jupiter boots.</p><p>"Are you still waiting for a table?" The bartender asked.</p><p>Cat ran her fingers over the smooth glass of the pendant around her neck. She smiled dreamily, reaching out and lacing hers and Robbie's fingers together.</p><p>"That's ok. We're good right here," she answered for them both.</p><p>The bartender moved away to polish some glasses. Robbie took to gazing at Cat while she flicked through the drinks menu, flashing dimples as she grinned to herself.</p><p>"Any other texts from the gang?" she asked.</p><p>Robbie moved his quarter in lazy circles across the counter top. "No, but it's ok. I'm glad you got here first."</p><p>Cat lifted her eyes from the menu and smiled at Robbie. The light overhead reflected off of his dark brown eyes till they glittered.</p><p>She could almost see rainbow-coloured circles in them.</p>
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